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Halo: First Contact

Chapter 4: Diplomacy

The key battles for the planet took a few weeks. The venomians were stubborn, numerous, and proved hard to remove. Once their forces were depleted sufficiently, they were forced to change their method. The enemy switched to guerrilla warfare, hiding and striking from the shadows. The cornerians were unprepared for those types of campaigns. Lucky for them, the men and women of the UNSC were more than familiar with these underhanded tactics. As the admirals talked above the planet, the marines pulled out, leaving the counter terrorism ops to the ODSTs. In a joint effort, the Blood Dragons were teamed up with cornerian regulars. They would teach them how to handle terrorists and prepare them for the terrible things they were capable of.

Since Liam had already worked together with them once before,he and the other members of the Blood Dragon's first squadwere assigned to the same base as the Starfox team, to help in their own efforts to clear the planet of malcontents. They had spent the last week on the lookout. Liam and his team had separated from Starfox to examine the forest around the cities, places that underground groups could hide while still being close enough to strike. Meanwhile, Starfox journeyed into the city nearby, they being the logical choice. It made sense for them to be the ones to go into the city, they had been there before, they actually belonged there, and they would attract less notice than a human.

Humans were still something to be gawked at. The scarce times that they had been seen by the local civilians had been times of discomfort for them. It was not easy for them to feel the eyes of so many species upon you; oft the eyes were from predatory ones, wolves and the like. It made them feel as if they had walked into a den of beasts. Liam and the others tried not to venture into the cities.

Currently, Liam and his team were riding a warthog, driving to the firebase erected a few kilometers outside the city. It was a brand new construction. The cornerian admiral had supplied it in a show of good faith. Admiral Mathias and Admiral Mark had spent a long time talking. In the ensuing weeks, they had managed to build a report with each other and were quite the pair. The fleets had been getting along surprisingly fine. Almost no incidents had been reported among the crews. It seemed that all was well. But they knew that negotiations of this caliber could only be handled by experienced hands. So Mathias waited for a delegation to arrive once the UNSC and UEG had gathered them. It would take some considerable time, especially factoring in that they had never expected to find alien life and most assuredly had no team assembled to deal with the encounter should it happen.

On the flipside, the cornerian government had a team already assembled for such a contingency, but they had never had the chance to use it. The only alien life they had encountered wasextremely hostile and humans were the first to react favorably.So while the cornerian diplomats were already in route, the ones from the human's side were still being hurriedly scraped together, and were learning anything they could from the information they compiled from the prowlers who arrived at the Helios asteroid base, two days ago. Another problem was that it would take months of slipspace travel to reach this system, and it would be still at least one month if they used the enhanced drives. They were far off the beaten intergalactic path.

It was an unfortunate truth, so until such a time as they could arrive, the UEG and UNSC had bestowed diplomatic power to the Admiral, he being the only one of any standing to accept or rebuke terms. It was an honor he loathed, Mathias was a career navy man, and any political maneuvering was something he did his best to avoid. Still he had a duty to the UNSC and to the people of his fleet so he took up the mantle of temporary diplomat. So while he dealt with the tedious dread of politics, Liam and his squad were pulling into the firebase.

They had just cleared a small bolt hole, filled with a squad of venomian reptiles storing a worrisome amount of explosives; it had taken two days to get the op set up perfectly. Their patiencehad been rewarded with a flawlessly execution, no one had been wounded and the enemy had been taken care of efficiently and quickly. Liam, the driver, pulled the hog up to the motor pool. His nose was assaulted by the overpowering smell of cleaning oils, lubricants, copper, and good old fashioned sweat. The deep guttural growl of the hydrogen engine wined down until silence prevailed. "Alright guys, the rest of the day is yours, good work out there." Liam climbed out of the hog and turned to his team.

They clambered out after him, saluted, and wandered off, too tired to talk. They had been relentlessly hunting the venomian gorillas for days on end. And this particular day would be the first where they could have time to relax. Liam let them go without a complaint; they earned the right to be silent in his opinion. Instead he spent an hour looking the vehicle over. Liam had a healthy respect for the things that carried him into battle, if you took care of them they would take care of you. When he was satisfied that it was in good condition, he went to the chief mechanic, a tough Irishman from the Midsummer's Solace, and signed in the return of the FAV. After a few words, he ducked out of the motor pool and out into the commons. While still new to each other, the cornerians and UNSC personnel occupied the base jointly. Although it was predominantly cornerian, the only UNSC presence was a few squads of ODSTs and the people needed to keep them fed, their vehicles maintained, and to keep them supplied. As he walked to the barracks, he spied out groups of cornerians as they went about their own duties.

The cornerians had most of the control over the base, and so being, the humans had to abide by their rules. This was understandable considering the planet belonged to them. As he walked through the humid fields, Liam could feel the eyes of the locals as they stared at him; it was an almost tangible force. He did not like that one bit. While the novelty of aliens had all but worn out for him, they still found it very much the opposite. Frequently, in the pathetically small amount of downtime he hadbeen given, he had been wrangled into conversations with prettymuch every cornerian on the base. While most of the questioning was alright some of the questions themselves were...odd.

A particular memorable one had been when a bulldog had asked him, rather innocently, if it was in fact normal for some humans to come in black or yellow....needless to say it had been an interesting conversation. When the doors to the barracks kissed closed behind him, Liam sighed in relief as the sounds of the base quieted down to a dull roar. In here he could relax and not worry about anything stressful, it was a place of serenity, and most importantly of all...silence.

"FUCKING JOKER!!!" He heard someone scream in outrage before the troublemaker himself rounded the corner leading into the rec room. The African American man was wielding a dastardly grin as he bolted past.

"Heya Atlas!" He greeted jovially, not breaking stride as he vanished down another bend.

In pursuit was a very, very disgruntled Latino woman, absolutely drenched in shaving cream. "YOU ARE DEADPENDEJO!" She bellowed as she tore down after the giggling trickster.

Liam stared at where they had gone....and sighed. Of course he could not find a place he could relax, perish the thought. Suitably frustrated, he ignored the brewing fight and entered the rec room. There was not much to it, it was a pre fab and not even of human design. But it did have a few tables, chairs, what could only be a fridge, and a small thin TV like contraption, and the place smelt of antiseptic and fresh paint. All they got for the television look alike were some odd shows, of course none of which they had any idea what they were about in the slightest...obviously. But still, it was white noise for the attendees inside.

The people inside were none other than ODSTs from the Blood Dragon battalion, and a few off-duty mechanics and pilots. Deadeye was in the corner nursing a cup of steaming Irishcoffee, sitting with Momma Bear. He knew everyone here, but they were his squad so he sat down with them. "Let me guess...shaving cream bomb?" He grunted, waiting for the confirmation.

"Got in one Atlas, I have no idea why he still does it, I mean hasn't she kicked his ass enough?" Deadeye asked with a bemused smile. He and the other ODSTs were out of armor, Atlas was the only one left in it as he had yet to get into his own fatigues.

"Some people never learn I suppose...and it doesn't help that others encourage him." Atlas pointedly looked over to Momma Bear who was doing her best not to laugh. "I have no idea how Flare has not figured out that Joker is too stupid to make the bombs himself."

She couldn't hold it in anymore and began to chuckle openly. "I don't know, but when she finally does I will be far away."

"Sure, just try not to get Joker killed, we still need him." Atlas ordered, standing up from the table.

"Where are you going?" Deadeye inquired, taking a sip from the white ceramic mug with the ODST emblem on it. Under the crest was their motto, feet first into hell.

"I am going to get out of this armor for the first time in days, take a well-deserved shower, and hit the mess hall." He replied, stretching with a yawn. "And after that I just might be lucky enough to get some sleep, of which I have had none."

"Yeah well try not to get shot...again." Deadeye dismissed, drinking from his mug once more.

Atlas shrugged. "No promises." He said his goodbyes and turned to leave the rec room, nodding at his other fellow helljumpers. Once he left, he bee-lined for the living quarters, and passed a semiconscious Joker, sprawled on the floor.

"It...was...worth...it." The man groaned, promptly losing consciousness.

Atlas shook his head in bemusement and walked over him and into the room he was looking for. The inside was empty, everyone being in the rec room, around base, or out in the field. He walked over to his locker, having to bend over due to the size differences. Cornerians tended to be smaller than humans, making for some less than stellar beds and lockers. Fumbling around in the locker, he pulled out his off-duty fatigues, an ensemble of black cargo pants and form fitting t-shirt with the ODST insignia emblazoned on the right pectoral. After he pulled those out he grabbed the rest of his clothes and headed for the communal showers. As he expected, he was the only one there so he quickly undressed, and showered. It was a good feeling to wash away the ever present smell of sweat, dirt, and the many disagreeable fragrances of the forest, almost as good as getting rid of all the grime and mud that always seemed to find its way past the armor and on to his body. Liam finished and stepped away from the nozzle, heading to where he stashed his clothes as he toweled off. Once he was dry he put on his clothes.

As he was tightening his boots, he found his gaze wandering upinto the large mirror just outside the showers. As he looked to his features, he could not help but be amazed. It was hard to tell that he had brushed with death a few weeks ago. His skin was its normal healthy color again and his muscles were strong andevident. The battle had been hard even before his injuries, and after he received them, it only got harder. What turned the tide was the arrival of more longsword air support and the scorpion tanks. With the longswords and tanks, the enemy folded like an empty tin can under a soldier's boot, routing almost immediately. Liam took a ride on a pelican and headed back up to the Midsummer's Solace, where he was sent to the infirmary. There the doctors finished what Momma Bear started, they were baffled as to how he had been still alive when he arrived and they saw his wounds. Liam decided to keep the means of his survival a secret, something the doctors did not appreciate but accepted. Still, it took days of help to come back to fighting strength, and more to regain his lost muscle mass.

Atlas prided himself on his physical strength, being the strongest man in his battalion. It all stemmed from the fact he had been rejected from the helljumpers before for not meeting the fitnessrequirements. So he had trained hard and with the help of his family and friends, turned himself into a man who could pass the tests. Even after meeting the qualifications he continued to work out, he had no desire to let his hard work fade.

Done synching the laces of his boots, he stood to his full height of six feet and four inches, and grabbed his battered armor from the small table near the door. He walked out of the showers and barracks, heading to the UNSC armory at the edge of the base. The armory was pretty much empty; his team was the only one that had been active for the past few days, so the armorers had time for once to get their shop under control. Thankful for that, Liam dropped off his armor, letting them work it over. Usually it would take a day or maybe even two for them to see to his gear, as they had many more things on backed up. So with a quick thank you, he turned to head for the mess hall. He crossed the cemented fields of the base, trying his best to ignore the harsh sunlight and fuel vapors in the air. The base was very busy; the cornerians were trying to get this one to replace the one devastated a few weeks ago. This entire hemisphere of the planet suffered the most during the invasion, and it might have been lost if the UNSC had not donated the resources and crew of the cruiser stationed in orbit.

With their much more experienced soldiers, the venomians were repelled with a significantly less loss of life than predicted. But as they say, there is no victory without sacrifice, many men and women of the UNSC lost their lives in the weeks it took to win. But on the flipside, the cornerians were extremely grateful for their sacrifice and were actually thinking of building a memorial near the mess hall, here at the heart of the base.

The helljumper stopped thinking about that and opened the double doors to the mess hall to the scent of cooking food and the sound of pleasant conversation...it was an odd sight. He had never really been to the mess hall; this was the first time his squad had enough free time to get a real bit to eat since they had been on this planet. So when he entered he was not prepared to see such a collection of individuals.

The mix was roughly fifty-fifty, cornerians to humans. Not only that, but they were mixing quite easily, if you closed your eyes you would not be able to tell that there were to separate species in the room. As he looked about, he saw one table with three humans, two ODSTs and a pilot, chatting amiably with a pair of cats in the green and white attire of the CDF. Other tables were equally diverse although there was a couple where races stuck to their own. It was not a complete blend, but it was far from what he expected. Even as he was somewhat intrigued and bewildered, he walked over to the mess line. Two cooks were women of Asian and Indian heritage; the other two were a female feline and her avian friend. (Liam supposed that this way, both races had an equal standing in the food served here.) The four were talking with the ease of close friends and laughing happily. The sight made him smile as he grabbed a tray and platefrom the cart besides the line. When they noticed him they stopped talking and went to serve. He got his food, a steak,mashed potatoes and gravy, an apple, water bottle, and a small slice of chocolate cake. After that, the helljumper said his goodbyes and turned to find a table.

He selected one in the back that was surrounded by other empty tables. There he could eat in peace.

Mess Hall...

Fox and his small band of misfits had just got back to the base. They had not found any sign of the venomian terrorists andheaded back after another fruitless search. They were unsure whether this was a good thing or whether it boded ill for them. So in defeat, they went to the mess hall for lunch. They were astonished to see the two races mixing so well. It was a heartwarming spectacle, even Falco was smiling. The group of friends was hungry so they went to grab some grub, Krystal, Miyu, and Fay chatted with the cooks. The guys bailed on them and looked for a table, unwilling to stand and listen to the gossip. The humans they walked by hardly gave them a second glance, at least no more than usual. Their fellow cornerians on the other hand stared in awe. They were the legendary Starfox team, and while the humans may not know what that meant,they did. Luckily, they respected their privacy and did not bother them. Falco, Fox, Slippy, and Peppy took their seats at the rear of the cafeteria. As they ate their food, they talked amongst themselves.

"So," Falco began as he diced up his steak. "Fox, what's your opinion on these humans, now that you have spent some time around them?"

The orange furred vulpine put down the strange human beveragehe had taken a liking to, he had asked a few of their pilots and they told him it was called coke. "If anything, it is nice to find a race that is not trying to eradicate us, even if they look a little different." The only other race they had met was the aparoids and they were anything but friendly.

Falco nodded. "I can respect that, but they are kinda funny looking, lacking fur and tails. They almost remind me of apes."

"Falco! Do not talk about them like that." Peppy scolded. "Theyhave given lives to help us. It would be a grave dishonor to referany resemblance of them to those monsters."

"Okay, okay, calm down Pep, I was just saying they have a similar look. I meant no disrespect, besides weren't you the one who questioned their motives?" The defensive avian retorted.

Peppy conceded. "I will admit, at first I had my doubts, but they have more than proven their trustworthiness the past few weeks. They have helped against these venomian terrorist and taught our soldiers how to deal with their despicable methods. We owe them a great debt."

"Yeah, and they have some pretty cool stuff!" Slippy chimed in, as he scarfed down an alarmingly large plate of these strange meat packets wrapped in some corn based bread, called corndogs.

"You would be more interested in their tech." Falco scoffed, folding his feathered arms against his chest. "That is all you seem to care about."

"Hey, that's no fair!" Slippy exclaimed with his stuffed mouth, spraying the table with his massacred meal.

"Jeez Slip, say it not spray it!" Falco exclaimed, brushing the salivated meat and bread product off his jacket and pants.

Slippy turned a deep hue of red, which definitely did not compliment his green skin. "Sorry guys."

"It's alright Slippy, it is no big deal." Peppy shrugged off; cleaning his sullied glasses with a cloth he pulled from his coat pocket.

"Yeah man, it's alright, no harm no foul." Fox placated, cleaning his old jacket. They had grown used to the toad's social blunderings and embraced his quirkiness. "Just try and keep it from happening again."

Slippy nodded thankfully, finishing the food in his mouth before replying. "Sure thing Fox, I'll work on it!"

"You might want to do that fast, cause the girls are coming back." Falco grunted, making them all look up.

Indeed they were coming. It appeared that they had finished talking with the cooks and were making their way back...with a suspicious amount of sweets. They must have talked their way into a little more. "Hey guys!" Fay greeted, sitting down next to Slippy, and beginning to tear away at her food with the same amount of vigor as the toad besides her.

Krystal sat sedately besides Fox, and Miyu plopped down next to Falco. "What have you three troublemakers been up to eh?" She questioned, nudging the irritated avian in the arm.

"Just talking about our new friends is all." Falco replied, pushing away the clawed finger prodding him.

"Oh yeah, do tell." She smirked, flashing her grin, the one she used to great success in getting her way.

Falco remained unaffected. "Fine, we were just talking about how they seem to be an alright sort."

"Really, they have the Falco seal of approval?" Miyu said with a roll of her golden feline eyes.

"No. not yet." Falco replied. "I have yet to stamp."

Fay giggled, and made Falco turn to her with a snarl. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just that nothing has ever gets your 'seal' of approval." She answered with finger quotes, backed up by her tail, all three appendages making the damning motion. It was true, nothing had yet garnered the stubborn avian's endorsement, and probably nothing ever would.

"Sure there has." He snapped.

"Oh yeah, name one." Fox countered, jumping into the annoy Falco game.

"Of course, there was the....uh...uh...' Falco started off strong but wilted. He shook his head. "Whatever, I can't recall one right now, but I know for a fact one has!" He shook his feathered finger at them.

The whole group erupted into cackles, although Krystal's was much more refined. Poor Falco balked at the laughter poised against him. Lucky for him Krystal brokered a truce. "Alright guys, leave Falco alone, we can talk about much nicer things." They all nodded and eased up on him, causing the bird to give her a thankful smile. She smiled back and redirected the conversation.

They went to normal talk after that, and returned to finishing their meal. A few minutes in, one of them spotted a familiar face. "Hey look it's Liam!" Slippy exclaimed excitedly, pointing to the large helljumper as he slid through the line, talking quietly with the cooks. They had not really had much time to talk with the soldier in a casual setting. In fact this was the first time they had seen him out of his armor, and he still looked like he could wrestle with a tank. The only times they had managed to talk with him was during the occasional mission together with him and his team. But even then, there really is not much you can talk about in the middle of a firefight.

"So it is, haven't' seen him in a couple days." Fox remarked, putting down his fork.

They watched as he said his goodbyes to the cooks and wandered off and found a table in the far back, away from everyone else, he sat down and proceeded to eat his meal with mechanical precision. No one sat in the tables around him and he looked to be surrounded by a wall of silence. His chiseled features betrayed no emotion or tell except for exhaustion as he ate by himself. "He looks so lonely." Fay muttered sadly. The spaniel was empathetic where Slippy was technologically savvy. She easily formed attachments with people and liked to help. Sometimes Fox thought she would make a better nurse then a mercenary.

"He looks fine to me." Falco snorted rudely, getting a jab in the ribs from the feline next to him. "What the heck was that for?" He demanded.

"Was what for?" Miyu replied with a confused expression.

Falco scrutinized her for a long time and gave up when she didn't crack. He sighed and turned back to his meal, zoning them all out and grumbling to himself.

"Why don't we invite him over?" Slippy suggested. "He is after all, the first human we ever met."

It was a good idea and held weight. "Okay, who will go get him?" Fox asked.

"I will!" Krystal yipped, beating Fay and Miyu by milliseconds. She put down her utensils and got up from her seat, walking through the maze of tables and over to his barrier of isolation, breaking it as she stopped at his table.

In the meantime, the ODST was polishing off his apple. Liam was a man who preferred solitude, he loved his teammates dearly, but sometimes it was nice to get away from their rowdy behavior. This was one of those times. He placed the depletedapple core on the tray and was beginning to cut up his steak when he heard a tap on his table. He looked up to see the blue vixen that had saved his life a couple weeks ago, tapping on the table with a claw. He was surprised to see her. "Hello Krystal." He greeted her warmly; the vixen held a special place in his heart, nothing major, but something was there. They had become friends inside his head...literally he thought with a silent chuckle.

"Hello Liam, it's good to see you again." She replied in her smooth and pleasant voice. It was not deep, but lower than what one would expect from normal, or human woman, personally he liked it. It gave her something that other women he knew did not have...besides the fur and tail of course.

"It is good to see you too; may I ask what it is you need?" He inquired, interested in the reason for her visit.

"I don't need anything per say; it's just that my friends and I were wondering if you would like to join us at our table?" She answered, tilting her muzzle in the direction of her friends andtwiddling her paws as she waited for his response.

He weighed his options. He could refuse and sit here where he could eat in peace. But that would most likely hurt her feelings and he would never wish to do that. Or he could go with her and perhaps have a decent time. "Okay, I would love to." He gave his answer and stood up, collecting his tray.

Krystal looked at his heightened stature, even outside his armor he was large, not overly so, but it was hard to miss. It didn't help that his outfit fit closely to his muscular frame, and her sensitive nose could detect the enjoyable smell of whatever he used in the shower. One upside about humans, she absently thought, was that you could see their muscles easier than with cornerians and their fur. Not that one could miss his muscles. She blushed as she realized where her train of thought was leading. She quickly looked to see if he noticed her blush, but his eyes were trained on his plate. He then looked up to her. "After you Krystal." He said.

She nodded and turned, leading him back to her friends. As they walked, she noticed that the humans dressed in the same type of clothing as he gave him respectful nods and casual salutes as they walked past. That made her curious, what had he done to earn such blatant admiration? She decided to ask him sometime in the future.

They stopped at her table and Krystal sat back down next to Fox, Liam was looking for a place to sit when Miyu pushed Falco to the end and motioned for him to sit next to her. Shrugging, he complied and sat, placing his tray in front of him, laughing on the inside when he heard the avian squawk in outrage. He took a moment to observe the table and noticed that everyone he had met for the first time was there. There was a short amount of uncomfortable silence before one of them spoke.

"So, Liam, it's been a while." Fox started casually.

"Yeah, it's been a few days." He replied before taking a bite of his steak, glad that the silence had been broken.

"Where have you been?" The orange vulpine inquired.

"My squad was sent into the jungle around the city to look for a venomian cell."

"Was your mission a success?"

"It was, although we were stuck in the jungle for two days." He added with a scowl. "It was...unpleasant."

"Sucks for you, we got to go into the city." Falco boasted, trying to get revenge for his stolen seat.

Liam looked to the smirking avian. "Was your mission a success?"

The bird's smirk faltered. "Well...uh...no it wasn't."

"That is unfortunate, I am sure you will have more success next time." Liam assured with a friendly grin. He had dealt with Falco's kind before. There were many like him in the ODSTs.

Falco frowned, he had expected the human to use the fact of their failure to tease him, and instead he tried to make him feel better. Falco smiled. "Thanks, I'm sure we will as well."

The team smiled as they saw their usually arrogant friend act in such a way. It was interesting to see how the human countered Falco's taunt in a kind way, and they noticed how it had a better effect then playing by his rules.

"So Liam," Falco began in a much less hostile tone. "How does this kind of warfare compare to your own back home?"

The human pondered the question. "This is more or less the same."

"Really, why?" Fay asked.

"Humanity is united, but there are those who believe that there should be more than one government, we call them insurrectionists. They have been around under many names since humanity first ventured out upon the stars."

"So you have no real war?" Peppy wondered, interested. The venomians were the usual main cause of war in the Lylat system, and without them they imagine that there would no longer be war.

"Not in the same sense as you guys, I am afraid it is much darker. Then insurrectionists do not fight like a regular army, to compare imagine these venomian gorillas. Sure they are terrible, but when you wipe them out, they are gone for good. The insurrection is different, they are run by a set of ideals, wrong as they are, ideals do not die. The only ones who do are the people who embody them."

"So as long as there are people who believe in them..." Slippy began.

"...There will be insurrectionists to fight." Liam finished sadly.

"How bad is it?" Krystal asked softly.

Liam sighed, these people were kind hearted, open minded, and ultimately unaware of the depravity that humanity unleashes upon itself on a daily basis. He had no desire to tell them, but naivety leads to ignorance, and ignorance leads to death. "To best understand, I will tell you a story. The story is from my first deployment in the marines, four years ago, long before I joined the ODSTs."

"You are going to tell us a story?" Miyu wondered, interested.

"Yes, one I will never forget." Liam confirmed, his expression turning distant. "My battalion was ordered to head to a small colony on the fringes of our space to set up a garrison. It was a backwater world by the name of Vesuvius, a mining colony built into the heart of a dead volcano. They dug up raw titanium and iron for our ships and vehicles of war. The volcano may have been dead, but it was far from cold. I can still remember the terrible heat and the smell of sulfur to this day, and I can almost understand why those colonists did what they did...almost." He paused for a moment, relieving the past.

The team was beginning to rethink whether it was a good idea to let him continue. It did not take Krystal's powers to let them know that this pained him deeply. But before they asked him if he wanted to stop, he resumed his oration.

"We landed at the starport and unloaded without a problem. Yet we should have known something was wrong when there was no one to greet or help us. But we were too busy getting offloaded to realize. It was while we were moving to the location of theprebuilt base that we ran into...complications. He shook his head sadly. We were all fresh out of boot and this was our first mission, we never knew what an ambush would look like, the UNSC had not had any training courses for it at the time. We didn't even understand the concept that we had been placed there to guard against the people we thought we were supposed to be protecting. There was a kid, no more than ten years old, he was in the middle of the street, holding his leg and crying. Our convoy halted." Liam's tone became almost joking, but they could see the unshed tears. "My best friend, his name was Jake, jumped out of the hog we were riding in and walked over to the kid. He wanted to help the kid up and get him on his way again. I always told Jake he was too kind for his own good." Liam sighed. "The sniper round cut through his jugular, even as he was trying to help the kid up."

The team's blood ran cold, and a few of them gasped. They had not expected the story to turn in the way that it did.

"At first we had no idea what was happening, but mostly I think it was because we did not want to consider the truth. And because of our ignorance, the hog in the back was hit with a Molotov cocktail, a nasty weapon. You know, a child can make one of those. All you have to do is get a bottle, preferably glass, fill it with alcohol, and plug the top with a cloth. Hell, even a napkin would do. The lieutenant ordered us to go forward. He was more experienced with this type of combat. He knew that to become stationary was to die. So we left the body of my friend and the burning hog in the road and floored it to the base. I can still hear the screams from the flaming car of men we left behind."

Liam continued, pausing for a second. "We managed to get to the base without any more deaths. It had been defaced, graffiti all over it, rebellious slogans and symbols. Still, it had walls and defenses. We pulled in and secured it. From there the radio man called our ship in orbit, a cruiser, and informed them of our situation." Liam chuckled darkly. It was not a pleasant sound. "Please wait to be advised for further orders. That was the response they gave. We were loyal soldiers. So that is exactly what we did. The next man to die was Derek, a good kid. He was manning the wall when he took a mining pick to the gut; some crazy bastard had climbed the wall. Derek died only moments after we took out the crazy man who hit him. After that, there were no more wall guards."

"You know, you do not have to finish telling the story." Miyu butted in softly, placing a paw on the arm he was using to hold his fork. That was when they noticed that it was shaking, not obviously, but their keen eyes could see it all the same. "I think we understand now."

Liam looked to her and smiled thankfully. "If you're sure?" He sounded like he was okay to continue, but they knew he wasn't.

"We are sure, you don't have to." Fox replied, looking at the human with a different eye, a more understanding one.

Liam cleared his throat. "Alright then, if you will excuse me, I'll be back in flash, gotta use the restroom." He chuckled as he got up from the table....it was a poor cover. They watched as the helljumper made straight for the men's room, swiftly opening the door and going inside.

They all looked at each other. "How does someone act so...normal after something like that?" Fox muttered.

"I don't know Fox." Peppy responded.

"And here I thought we were having it bad." Slippy said with a sulky air. Falco, who had not looked up from his deep peering into the shiny steel of the table, was running a blue finger in little circle on the cold metal.

Miyu, Fay, and Krystal were looking at the door to the men's room, waiting for him to return. "He never seemed like he had suffered like that...at least all the times we saw him." Fay remarked, frowning as she rubbed her tail.

"He did seem kinda lively." Miyu observed. "What kind of people could do that?"

"Bad people, very bad people." Krystal answered, her gaze unwavering from the door.

"I hope he is okay in there." Fay added.

"What is he thinking?" Miyu asked Krystal.

The azure vixen turned her gaze from the door. "I cannot be sure, his mind is clouded by a haze of many emotions, and I am not comfortable with breaching his privacy any more."

Miyu nodded. "I can understand that. I only hope that we did not cause him too much pain. I feel terrible."

"Yes, but he offered, so there is no merit in beating yourself up." Fay told her. "It doesn't help anyone."

Miyu exhaled. "You're right Fay, but still I wish there was something we could do."

Krystal turned to Fox. The orange vulpine nodded and stood up. "I have to go to the bathroom." He announced as he made his way over to the restroom.

Liam washed his face for the third time and looked into the mirror. He had managed to get himself to look like he normally does. He tried to smile but it was more like a grimace. It had been hard to think back to that day, but it was worth it. He hoped that if they ever found themselves in a situation like that, they would remember what he said and be prepared. He rather liked them and would hate for them to die. He was drying he face when he heard the door to the bathroom open. He turned to see that it was, and saw Fox. The orange vulpine walked over and began to wash his paws in the sink besides him.

Fox shifted his attention over to Liam. "It must have been hard, to relive that."

"It was, but I hope that you guys will take what you have heard into consideration, so that what I went through would never happen to you. I haven't known you all for very long, but you seem like an okay bunch." Liam replied, bawling up and tossing the brown paper towels into the small trash bin.

Fox smiled at his kind words. It was nice to hear his honest opinion. "Thanks."

"Sure, just don't get killed; it would be a real shame." Liam said with an air of indifference, and then smiled to show that he was playing around.

Fox barked a short laugh. "You're right, it would be a shame."

Liam was laughing with him as the doors to the bathroom opened and they walked out. The team watched as the large helljumper and smaller vulpine came back, acting like old friends as they talked. It would appear that it did not take long for Fox to cheer him up, or for them to become friends. The two retook their seats at the table, the human in a much better mood.

The rest of the meal was spent talking about lighter things, each member of the team spending some time to get acquainted with the man. By the time they all finished, it was as if he had been one of them for years. He was a surprisingly funny guy, and a real gentleman to the ladies, something they very much appreciated. It was only reluctantly that they had to part ways, Liam begging forgiveness for his departure.

"Please forgive me, it has been too long since I last slept in a good bed, and your beds are leagues better than UNSC cots. So I am going to take this opportunity to get some shut eye." He said with an infectious laugh.

They all chuckled along. After bidding farewell, Liam walked off, and they watched as he headed over to the human barracks, whistling a foreign tune, his bearing happy and care free. So Falco, does he get your stamp?" Miyu asked, bumping into the avian to force his response.

Falco recovered from her maneuver and replied nonchalantly. "I suppose, after some careful consideration he could...in a few days." They all threw up their paws in defeat and walked away, leaving Falco to stare at them in confusion. "What? What did I say?" He demanded, going ignored.

UNSC Barracks...

Liam made it back to the barracks in a good mood, the lunch had been better than he expected, and the company wasn't half bad either. The Starfox team was alright in his books, sure they were....different, but what did ones looks matter anyways? Allthat did was who you were on the inside. He stepped into his team's assigned room, and smiled.

The small room was cozy; the cornerian army had different standards when it came to the sleeping quarters of their soldiers. The small room was perfect for their team's size, and had amenities that UNSC facilities would lack. For example, it had a television and a table. A UNSC Barracks room was large, crowded, and had no real entertainment. Joker and Flare had temporarily ended their feud and were chatting over a game of chess, a strategic game. From a simple glance it would seem that Joker was winning, but an experienced chess player could see the intricate trap Flare had weaved around him. If Liam had to guess, it would be over in seven moves. With an inwards chuckle he turned his attention to Deadeye and Momma Bear. The pair was sitting at the table, and talking happily over a couple of MREs, having decided to eat at the barracks rather than the mess.

The four of them looked up as Liam walked in. "Have fun at the mess LT?" Joker inquired, before moving a pawn towards Flare's apparently unguarded king.

"It was different, fun, but different." He replied as he walked over to his cot. He sat down on the comfortable mattress with a relived sigh. "As fun and different as it was, I think I need some shut eye."

"I think we could all use some shut eye." Deadeye agreed as he finished up his rehydrated spaghetti and meatballs and moved to his cot.

"Yeah, a real bed will be great after two days roughing it in that alien forest." Momma Bear finished her meal as well and got up,joining Deadeye, on the bed besides him.

"You guys go ahead; I in the meantime, I am finally going to beat Flare." Joker muttered determinedly as he concentrated on his next move.

"I am sure you will win this time." Liam reassured, turning his back to the group and got situated on the bed. He did his usual routine of clearing his mind and shutting himself down, a few minutes before he fell asleep, he heard Joker cry out in outrage.

"What? No! I had that! I was going to win this time!"

Flare's triumphant laugh was all that responded to his angry outburst. Liam smiled as he heard the two begin to bicker, Joker accusing her of cheating, and she responding in her usual way, violence. The sounds of the two scuffling lulled him to sleep, having been used to it for some time.

Barracks, Morning...

Liam was awoken with a tap on his shoulder. He shifted his body to see who had disturbed him and saw a young kid in apilot's uniform. "Lieutenant Liam sir, urgent message from the admiral, your eyes only." He informed, handing a data pad to the groggy ODST.

At the sounds of 'urgent' and 'admiral', he bolted up and grabbed the pad. The kid saluted and marched away, heading outside of the quiet barracks.

He put in his personal code and the device lit up, His eyes scanned the pad and looked to his team with a sigh. Liamreluctantly climbed out of his bed and walked over to Deadeye.Once he was standing over him, he shook the slumbering man on the shoulder and awakened him. The OSDTs eyes opened and he sat up quickly. "What's the problem Atlas?"

"The admiral has requested my presence for something important. So until I get back, you are in charge of the team." Liam replied, walking over to his locker at the front. There was a small red tag pinned to the side letting him know that hismended armor was waiting for him inside.

"Do you think its trouble?" Deadeye asked, getting up as well and heading to his own locker at the end of the row.

"I hope not, but it might be. Things have been quite for the past week so maybe not." Liam pulled the tag off and opened his locker, taking out and equipping his armor. The process took a few minutes, having done it enough times that he could suit up blindfolded if need be. "Whatever the reason, I want you to take care of the squad until I return, which includes Joker."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll keep him alive too." Deadeye grumbled jokingly as he rooted around in his locker for something.

"Good." Liam replied as he placed his helmet in his hands and turned to his friend. "I should be back by today, so I don't thinkyou should run across any trouble, but if you do, keep your head down and keep them together."

"I have taken care of them before you know." Deadeyemuttered, rolling his eyes.

Liam just grunted and turned to walk away. He exited the barracks and stepped out into the frosty morning air, there was a heavy fog curtaining the base. He yawned as he checked his tac-pad on his left forearm and noticed that it read five in the morning. Whatever the admiral wanted must be really important. He looked to the left and saw the pilot standing there waiting for him by the doors to the barracks stiffly. With a wave he gestured for him to lead the way. The man nodded in confirmation and walked out into the fog. Liam trailed him until the outline of a pelican dropship slowly manifested in the distance. The duo entered the olive green dropship from the grated ramp. The ODST took a seat in the far back by the door into the cockpit. "When are we leaving?"

"Once my copilot comes back with the others we will get going." The pilot answered as he entered the cockpit and closed the door. Liam shrugged and slapped his helmet on his head, polarizing it all the way and deciding to nap in the improvised darkness.

A Few Minutes Later...

The ramp vibrated as many pairs of boots walked up it. "Wow! This is the inside of one of their ships?" Slippy exclaimed as he entered with Falco and Miyu.

"Calm down Slippy, the last thing we need is for you to flip out."

"Leave him alone Falco, let him have his fun."

"Alright Miyu, just don't blame me when he has an episode."The others soon came in after them and waited for the copilot to enter. The human came in shortly and directed them to take their seats near the mouth of the bay. The team complied and the copilot left once they were securely in their seats, entering the cockpit. They watched as he left, and their eyes stopped at the only other passenger, an armored man in the far back. His poseled them to believe that he was sleeping so they turned back to each other. "So, why are we here exactly Fox?"

The orange vulpine yawned tiredly with his paw over his muzzle, his response was muffled. "I don't know Falco. The admiral contacted me only a few minutes ago. He said that it was very important."

"I hope so, I am still tired." Krystal stretched in her seat and yawned as well. She was about to continue talking when she herself noticed the armored man in the back. Something about him struck her as familiar. Curious, she got up and walked over as the ramp closed. It was hard to make her way over in the darkness of the hold but she managed without banging into something. She stopped in front of the man and studied him intently. His mind was awfully familiar and his body could not be confused as anyone else. "Liam?" She asked hesitantly. The man did not respond so she tried harder. "Liam!" She yipped and shook his shoulder.

The man flinched and brought his helmet up to look at his antagonizer. He seemed to be surprised, "Krystal?"

"Yep that's me, the one and only." She replied with a lopsided grin.

He chuckled and stood up, pulling the startled smaller vixen into a sudden but not unwelcome embrace. "I would never have guessed that you guys would be the others." He said as he looked to the rest of the group who had just noticed him.

"Do you know what we are here for?" fox asked hopefully.

"No, I only know that my admiral called for me." He replied, letting go of Krystal, who looked a little disappointed that thehug had ended.

"Well I guess that means we just have to find out won't we?" Miyu muttered disappointedly.

"Why don't you sit with us?" Krystal asked as she began to pull him over, it was clearly not a suggestion.

Liam mulled it over for only a second as he was dragged along. "Sure, it certainly would make the trip more enjoyable." He moved over and took a place between Krystal and Miyu. On his side of the hold were the two girls and Peppy. On the other side sat Fox, Falco, Slippy, and Fay, who looked a little left out.

The pelican began to vibrate and the engines began to cycle on, which could faintly be heard through the closed ramp. A feeling of weightlessness and thrust let them all know that the pelican had begun its journey into space. The flight took about a half hour, which was spent talking among themselves, it was more of an exchange of information as Liam told them some things about humanity while they explained some things about cornerians that he had a hard time grasping.

They had no idea what ship they would be dropped off in, a downside of the pelicans was that you could not see what was outside unless you were in the cockpit. It made sense though. It was a military craft and not a leisure cruise.

The hold shook as the pelican set down on the deck of some ship. The cockpit door slid open and one of the pilots poked his head out. "Here's your stop."

With a hiss, the ramp began to descend, lighting up the hold as artificial illumination seeped in from the outside. Liam was the first one up as he marched over to the lowering ramp, eager to see where the ship had taken them. Once it finished its descent, he got a good look at the vessel they were inside. It was so foreign that he could only assume that it must be one of the cornerian ships. He had not been on every ship in his own fleet, but he was pretty sure that no UNSC boat had energy shielding instead of good old hanger doors. He stepped down the ramp and hesitantly walked over to the shield. In awe, halted in front of it and slowly raised a gloved hand to stop centimeters from the energized barrier. This was something that humanity had only dreamed of. He himself had read countless books as a child with spaceships like this. Throwing caution to the wind, he laid his hand onto the glowing surface. The helljumper had expected for his hand to pass through, but it was stopped by the wall of light. It felt like he had pressed his hand onto a thin fence of vibrating water. Laughing like a nerdy kid at a science fair, he turned to Fox. "How does it do that?"

Starfox could not help but smile at the childlike enthusiasm pouring out of him. "The crew in the hanger control room manipulates the magnetic fields, to allow for some things to pass through."

Liam exhaled in amazement and turned back to look at the shielding again, chuckling softly to himself. He might have stayed there for an hour if not for Miyu getting his attention. "Liam, someone is here for us, all of us."

Surprised, he turned to see a young looking Doberman holding something that looked a lot like a datapad, standing beside the team. With a reluctant groan he pulled himself away from the technological marvel and joined the team. "You need me too?" He asked the Doberman.

The dog fellow nodded. "Your admiral is here as well; in fact both of the admirals are together and are waiting for you."

"Both of them, this must be really important." Peppy hypothesized, rubbing his white furred chin thoughtfully.

"I hope it is nothing bad." Slippy rubbed his webbed hands together nervously.

"I assure you that is not the case, if you would just follow me you can find out for yourselves." The dog gestured for them to do so.

As the team led the way, Liam lagged behind. They may have seen the sights here hundreds of times, but for him this was all new territory. These ships were so unlike humanity's. Cornerian ships were spacious, bright and they even smelt different. The smell was...clean, that was the only way he could describe it. Not to forget the corridors, which were octagonal, making them wider than he was used to. He supposed it must help with claustrophobia, a common symptom during extended spaceflight. Noticing his lapse, Krystal, Fay, and Miyu slowed down to his pace. "So, do you like the ship?"

"It is absolutely beautiful; I have never in all my years quiteseen anything that could compare." He replied happily, making them smile. "Your ships are so unlike our own, don't get me wrong. I love them, but yours...wow." He trailed off, trailing his helmet in sweeps across the hallway, soaking it all in.

"You really like it?" Fay asked, she had always thought it looked normal.

He fixed his attention on her. "Definitely, this is all so...alien." He chuckled to himself. "I Love it!" "So you like aliens huh?" Miyu asked with a smirk, nudging him playfully.

If he had not been wearing his helmet, they would have seen him blush at the suggestive remark. But they had noticed that he had almost slipped for a second. But he recovered nicely and fired back. "I must admit, there were less pleasant types I expected, you guys are much more preferable then what I thought we would find."

"Really, what did you expect?" Miyu asked, wrapping her tail around his arm. She enjoyed being in close contact with him.

"Honestly, I always imagined it would be little grey men, skinny big black bulbous eyes and telepathic." He replied, embarrassed.

The three girls laughed softly, making him cringe. Seeing this, Fay spoke up. "It's alright we are not laughing at you. It's just that for some odd reason many cornerians thought the same way, making it a strange coincidence." She patted him on the shoulder.

He visibly brightened up at that, his posture shifting to its normal formidable height. "Okay, but for a second there I was worried you were making fun of me."

"We could never do that, we owe you our lives." Krystal replied with a smile.

"And I owe you mine." Liam retorted with a thankful tone. "I will always be grateful for that."

Krystal's tail began to wag back and forth softly. She immensely enjoyed the praise he bestowed upon her. Seeing her, Miyu grinned mischievously and leaned onto Liam, wrapping a furred arm around one of his own. "I have to say, in my opinion, you are a much better looking alien then we thought. So why are you hiding behind your helmet?"

Her advances caught him by surprise. "Well uh I...uh...it's..."

"Surely you would not mind taking it off?" Fay inquired, pressing on his opposite side, mimicking Miyu's move.

Krystal watched all of this with a smirk, amused by the fearsome warrior's anxiety. It was oozing off of him quite obviously. It was funny to see that despite his fierceness in combat, something like taking a well-deserved compliment could fluster him so easily. To her, and as she could sense from Miyu and Fay, it was an endearing quality. So she also decided to press the attack, her own addition breaking his crumbling resolve. "Oh you simply must take it off; one should always speak face to face with women. It is the polite thing to do." She said, using hernatural regal tone to comedic effect.

"I...uh...of course." Liam responded uncertainly, tentativelybringing his gloved hands to the neck seal of his helmet. He twisted the helm, disconnecting the seals. Then he slowly brought it up over his head, revealing his handsome features to the three women. "Is that better?"

"Much better." They answered unanimously. It was a pleasure to see his exotic and handsome face. A pleasure they would like to have more of. Seeing that he was a little uncomfortable with their actions, they toned it down a bit.

"So Liam, tell us more about your home." Krystal asked. She figured that they had a little more time before they stopped at their destination for some more info on their friend.

"Okay sure." He replied. "If you really want to know, I was born on a farming colony on the edge of our space called Harvest. I was raised by my mother and father, my mother was aroundmore than my dad, she ran the farm; my dad was away more often than we would have liked. He was a marine, and could only come home when he had leave. Still, it helped keep the farm running so we understood. I have two sisters....and I had a brother." They noticed his expression fell somewhat but he pressed on. "My brother and I kept the farm running and mysisters helped my mom with selling our product."

"What did you grow?" Fay asked, thoroughly interested in his life, wanting to know what it was like for another species.

"My family grew vegetables, of which you probably have no idea what they are called." He responded. He was not being rude. It was just that while having a similar language, he doubted that they called their things the same as the humans did.

"Try us." Miyu demanded, unwilling to back down.

"Sure, do you guys have a yellow vegetable, long covered in a green husk, grows from stalks?"

"Yeah, it's called corn." She answered obviously, stunning him.

"Well I'll be damned, it is corn. Seems like we are more alike than I thought, I wonder why that is." He muttered thoughtfully.Why was it that humanity and these cornerians had so much in common? It was a question he desperately wanted an answer to.

"Where is your family now?" Krystal wondered.

"My mother is home on Harvest; my sisters are taking care of her. And...my brother and father are dead, killed by insurrectionists." He exhaled heavily.

"That's terrible!" Fay exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah, as I am sure you know, you have to carry on. I miss them dearly, but I can't let it bring me down. If I did, I would be useless as a soldier and could get others killed." Liam replied, walking without breaking stride. Whatever emotions he was feeling, he did not allow it to show.

"I truly am sorry to hear that." Krystal bowed her head.

That got a reaction from him. Liam turned to her. "Feel not sorrow, my father and brother died for what they believed in. I can only hope that if we are forced to give our own lives, that we would be so lucky." He was not angry, but he wanted to make sure that they understood.

"I...understand." Krystal said, picking her head back up and smiling at him.

"Good, now let's talk about better things, I think we have all had enough sadness for one day."

They agreed. This human continued to surprise them. He had more layers to him than they had expected. There was much going on inside his head, and they all wanted to know what. Krystal, being the only one who could actually find out, knew better than to violate his trust.

Before they could continue however, Falco grabbed their attention. "Hey guys, this is our stop." The tuned over to the avian and noticed that he was gesturing at the Doberman who stopped at a door guarded by two heavily armed guards.

"The admirals are inside and waiting." The Doberman informed before saluting and walking down another corridor, his task done.

"Well you heard him, let's head inside." Fox instructed, walking up to the door. One of the two guards plugged in a code on the small number pad next to the reinforced steel doors. The door opened with a hiss of pressurized air. That must mean that this room was constructed in such a way that if there was a hull breach or attack, that it could be self-sufficient, protecting anyone inside. Liam was thinking that as he followed after Fox and the others, entering the chamber.

Inside were an additional twelve guards, six helljumpers and six cornerians. The helljumpers were standing in at attention behind Admiral Mathias. The large colored man turned to the entering group and smiled as his eye fell on Liam. Sitting at the opposite end of the table was who could only be the cornerian admiral. He was a husky with salt and pepper fur, the end of his muzzle was a sort of small beard, and his clothing was different from the others he had seen. The middle age dog was wearing a dark crimson uniform with black lining and gold trimming. It gave him an almost regal air, making Admiral Mathias's seem plain in comparison.

With his observation done, Liam walked over to the UNSC Admiral and saluted in front of him. "Admiral Mathias sir, it is good to see you." He barked, having slipped back into his military persona.

In a move that surprised everyone present except for the OSDTs, the admiral wrapped up the larger man in a strong bear hug. "None of that sir business with me, it's damn good to see you alive and well son, your father would be proud. You have done a fine job so far."

"Please sir, we must adhere to protocol, this is unbecoming of an admiral." Liam pleaded without any affect, causing everyone to laugh.

"Nonsense, can't a godfather great his godson?" The admiral fired back with a chuckle.

"Okay sir, just let me down. You are stronger than I gave you credit for." Liam answered, chuckling as well.

"Fine, very well." Mathias muttered good-naturedly, and released Liam. The man sighed in relief and popped his back."Yes well, now that we are done, we should get to the point of this meeting. Please, take your seats."

They all went to the large oval table in the center of the room. Liam sat next to Mathias, placing his helmet on the table in front of him, and Starfox parked their rears with the cornerian admiral.

"Why have you brought us here sirs?" Fox questioned, wanting to get to the bottom of it immediately.

Admiral Mark looked to Fox and waived one of his paws in the air, trying to articulate his response. "We have brought you all here because there is an important task for all of you."

"What do you need sir?" Falco spoke up. The avian was very interested in finding out why they all were here.

"We have come to an agreement, Mathias and I. We are hoping that you would accept. Liam here (The husky gestured to the ODST), is a soldier, so he has to, but you are mercenaries, so you do not have to do what we are asking."

"What exactly would that be?" Peppy inquired, fixing his glasses on the bridge of his short muzzle.

"We think that it I best for us to have a...exchange program. Some elements of the cornerian army would be temporarily given to the UNSC, and the UNSC would provide their own replacements."

"Why?' Miyu asked, confused.

"As you are no doubt aware, the venomians that have taken unwanted residence on the planet bellow are proving hard to remove. The USNC has made great strides in stamping them out. But our own soldiers are proving incapable of doing so. The truth of the matter is that we ave no experience in fighting war like this. So what better way to gain such knowledge then working with a race intimately familiar with this warfare?"

Fox thought about it and nodded his head, it was a smart plan. Even they have had no luck in combating the threats facing them. But something was still nagging him. "If that is so admiral, what are we here for; we are not part of the cornerian army?"

"That may be so Fox, but given the fact you are currently in contract with the cornerian army, it would make sense for you to receive the same training." The admiral explained, making them all frown.

"What, so we would have to let some human come in and tell us how to do our job?" Falco demanded angrily.

That's when Admiral Mathias entered the debate. "Not just any human, but Lieutenant Liam here would be taking the assignment."

Liam, who had been absentmindedly thinking about the holes in the chairs that could only be for tails froze as the trickles of the Admiral's words leaked into his distracted mind. "Wha...what sir, you cannot be serious?'" He exclaimed.

"I can and I am." Mathias said seriously.

"But my team sir, they need me!" Liam growled.

"They will do just fine in your absence, they have before." Mathias said with a commanding tone, ending the argument.

Liam frowned but went quiet, he had his orders. Soldiers could not pick and choose what they preferred. Starfox watched his tortured expression with sympathy. "How would this work exactly?" Miyu asked.

"If you agreed, Liam would be stationed on your ship and would be responsible for both teaching you all how to fight against terrorists, and he would learn more about our culture for when the delegates from the UEG arrive. He would then be able to tell them all that he learned."

It was indeed a smart idea, but it also had its drawback, Liam would be taken from his squad. Fox had to take a long time to think about it. It was the right thing to do. They needed to know how to fight the venomians if they tried anything like this again.He knew Liam would understand, but he would probably not be happy. "Very well, we accept."

Both Admirals looked to each other with relief; it had all been down to how the team would react. "Excellent, his transfer is effective immediately. Any personal effects of yours and a sizeable equipment load has already been loaded onto a pelicanand placed onboard. It will take you to a cornerian frigate, that ship will then take you and Starfox wherever it is they want to next." Mathias said to the furious looking ODST.

Liam just stood up and slammed the helmet down onto his head, polarizing it and marched out of the briefing room. Mathias watched him go with a sigh. "Was that the right thing to do?" Fox asked the human Admiral.

The man turned to the curious vulpine. "Yes, if this alliance is to be successful, sacrifices must be made. Liam understands this, just give him time, he will come to his senses."

Fox nodded in understanding and bid the two Admirals farewell, leaving to head back to the pelican where the angry ODST waited.